IPO Dollar Volume Last Year Highest Since 2000

Venture-backed IPO activity saw a substantial rise in 2012, according to data compiled by the National Venture Capital Association. The NVCA said that there were 49 such listings that collectively raised a total of $21.5 billion. The latter figure was the highest since 2000 and was nearly double the level of 2011.

The year closed out well for the venture-backed IPO space; eight such offerings brought in a total of $1.4 billion. That represented a 23% increase from Q3's tally.

For the full year, the most significant market launch by far was that for Facebook , which raised $16 billion for the company. Q4's most successful offering belonged to Workday , which took in $733 million in its IPO.